


Can You Keep a Secret?

by Larxicana



Series: Linked Universe [7]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Animal Transformation, Animals, Fluff, Humor, Magic, Sweet, unlikely friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-13 14:14:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18470620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Larxicana/pseuds/Larxicana
Summary: Wild discovers an injured pink rabbit out in the woods and refuses to leave it behind so some pack of wolves can come eat it up. He takes it back to camp where he intends to nurse it back to health, but Four noticed something... interesting about it.





	Can You Keep a Secret?

**Author's Note:**

> Written for this week's Discord prompt of "unlikely friendship". I'm excited I actually got to write something for it lol Thank you to that special someone on the service who helped me get Legend's character right and put up with all my questions (you know who you are <3)
> 
> This is based off the Linked Universe created by Jojo on Tumblr! Ya'll should go check it out because it's amazing and it gives me so much life.

It was early one morning, enough so that the sun was just starting to peak through the trees and a light fog covered the land. This was the perfect time to go hunting for mushrooms and vegetables hiding in the forest near their camp, since the air still had a bit of a chill to it. Plus Wild enjoyed the way the world felt early in the morning, like it was just starting to stretch and wake up from its long night of rest. He hummed as he moved through the forest, kneeling to dig around the base of trees in search of food. He already had a decent amount in his basket and if he was just feeding himself, he would had enough, but with eight other mouths to feed now, he would need a little bit more to give everyone a hearty meal.

He easily stepped over fallen tree branches and other debris on the ground, feeling at home amongst the trees and earth. Usually he would take off his boots to walk through barefoot, but it was chilly that morning and he didn’t want to catch a cold. That would be the last thing they’d need. Wild knelt to dig around a weed that didn’t seem to match the others and found a carrot just under the surface, causing a gasp of delight. It was hard to find carrots out in the wild like this. He usually had to buy them when they managed to pass through a village. He quickly and carefully dug these up and added them to his basket.

However, the sound of a struggling animal caught his attention. His head snapped up to scan the surrounding area with wide eyes, holding his breath. It was silent for a moment, then came another little cry and the rustling of leaves. Wild quickly grabbed his basket and made his way towards the noise. He peered around trees and under bushes until he finally found the source of the desperate sound. There was a small pink rabbit with its hind leg wrapped up in some vines that had tangled under a bush. Wild gasped, causing the rabbit to look up at him quickly. He could see how quickly it was breathing, its little heart racing. The poor thing was probably terrified. When the rabbit spotted him, it froze, then tried to scurry back under the bush.

“Hey no, it’s ok!” Wild spoke in a soft, quiet tone. The rabbit stopped and stared up at him with big eyes, almost in shock. The hero moved slowly around it to kneel in front of it a safe distance away, so not to scare it. He gave it a kind smile and held up his hands, “I won’t hurt you. I just want to help.” He leaned to the side to peer over at the vines trapping the rabbit to its spot and put a hand to his mouth when he saw a bit of blood. The vines had thorns. “Oh you poor thing…” His brows frowned up, looking like he was almost in the same level of pain. He pulled his dagger from his belt and held up his other hand, “I’m just going to cut the vines, ok? I will be as gentle as I can.” The rabbit stared up at him and didn’t move when Wild inched closer. Carefully, the hero slipped the knife between the creature’s leg and the vine, twisting it so the sharp side would start to cut into it. When the rabbit made a pained little squeal, Wild sucked in a breath as tiny little tears gathered in his eyes, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I’m trying to be careful. I’ve almost got you.” The creature didn’t make another sound after that, though its body is still tense, staring up at him with big eyes.

Finally, the vine snapped and the rabbit yanked its foot free. Wild let out a happy little sound and turned to smile down at it, “There!” Then he frowned, “Oh, but your leg is still hurt… Here, I can fix it.” He went back to his basket to dig around in it a little, checking over the herbs he had gathered. “I have everything I need. I just need to mix- wait!” Wild looked up with wide eyes when he saw the rabbit limping away, holding out a hand. It paused, hesitating, then looked back at him. “Please don’t go. I don’t want something to happen to you with your leg hurt like that. What if something snatches you up? Just let me fix it, please.” The rabbit stared at him for a long moment, its little head lowering, then with what sounded like a sigh, it turned and started to hobble towards him. Wild brightened considerably and held out his hands for it. When it got close enough, he carefully picked it up to hold close to his shoulder, near his neck. He stroked it across the ears and down his back lovingly, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you. I won’t let anything happen to you.” He dipped his head to give it a little kiss on the ear and the rabbit lifted a paw to cover its face. Wild chuckled and stood, carefully holding it in one hand against his chest while he carried his basket in the other.

He made his way back towards camp and saw the others were up, but still lounging around the fire in just trousers and loose shirts with blankets wrapped around them. Some still had bedhead from sleep. Twilight and Time were the most awake out of all of them and looked up when he approached the camp. “What chya got there?” Twilight asked, nodding to the creature in his hand.

Wild set his basket down when he reached the fire then held his free hand up to sign, _R-A-B-B-I-T._

“Yes I can see that. Why ya got a rabbit?”

Wild shifted his hold on the creature and turned so they could see its bloody leg. They both made a sad sound. “What happened?” Time asked.

The long-haired boy sat down on his ankles and shifted the rabbit to hold in his lap. It seemed content with this. _His leg was wrapped up in a bunch of thorny vines. I cut him free, but I didn’t want to just let him go. Something would eat him for sure._ Wild ran his hand over the rabbit’s ears and back a few times, gazing down at it, then back up to the others. _So I’m going to fix his leg before letting him go._

Twilight smiled and tilted his head, “Yer such a sweetheart.”

Wild returned his smile and chuckled, then grabbed his pack to pull closer to him so he could dig through it. He pulled out a mortar and pestle to set him front of him then a couple of small glass bottles. He went digging for his herbs but paused and grabbed a carrot instead. He used his dagger to cut off a small piece and held it in front of the rabbit, who sniffed it a little, then took it to munch on. Pleased, Wild grabbed his herbs and started to twist off the buds to drop into his mortar so he could start crushing them up, adding a few drops from one of the vials to make the process easier. “What are you making?” Time asked, watching his hands closely.

Wild set the pestle down so he could sign to him, _Something that’s going to keep the wound clean and help it heal faster._ He told him

“And where did you learn to make that?”

Wild shrugged, _Trial and error._

“Hm, you’re very resourceful.”

 _I have to be. Nobody sells these things. If I want something, I have to make it._ He turned his attention back to his mixture to add and mix in a few more things. When he was finished, he had a green paste that gave off a sweet, minty scent. By this point, the other heroes started to pull themselves from their sleepy daze and were watching with interest. Wind’s eyes were huge as he stared down at the injured rabbit, looking very concerned. The rabbit seemed very uncomfortable with all the attention and tried to make itself smaller. Wild had to wave the others away so they didn’t scare it off. He tilted his head as he looked down at the rabbit, meeting its eyes. He wanted to tell it that this might sting, but he couldn’t use his voice around the others. He had tried, but it was more difficult to talk to people than it was to talk to animals. He would just have to hope that it understood and didn’t bolt. He put a hand under the rabbit’s chin to scratch as he scooped up the paste with his other fingers, then carefully started to spread it over his hind leg. The rabbit jerked and tensed, and so did Wild, but it didn’t move. He wanted to apologize for hurting it and assure it that this was going to help it feel better, but just kept stroking its fur to try and help it relax. Once the paste was applied, he gently wrapped its leg with a bit of gauze and pinned it into place, then picked it up to hold close to his shoulder in a way of apology.

“Aww,” Sky smiled, “he’s so cute. He seems to really like you.” Wild smiled at this, eyes sparkling.

“I’ve never seen a rabbit that color before.” Warrior added, narrowing his eyes at it a little. “Are they usually that color here?” Wild shook his head. “Hm, odd.”

Wind sat as close to the newest hero as he dared so he didn’t scare the little creature in his hands, watching it with big eyes. “Can I hold him?” He asked, “I’ll be super careful.” Wild gave him a little smile, but shook his head. “Aww… Well can I pet him?” The older boy gave this some thought, then nodded, holding up one hand to put his pointer finger and thumb close together. Wind brightened and scooted closer. He lifted his hand slowly, hesitating a little, then lightly ran his fingertips over the rabbit’s pink fur, being as careful as he could. The rabbit watched him for a moment, then wiggled away from his touch. Wind pouted and Wild chuckled in his throat a little. “Aww man, none of your animal friends like me.” He huffed, crossing his arms. “Your wolf is such a snob too.” Twilight spat out his tea and started to cough, putting a fist to his chest. Time pressed his lips together to try and hide a smile as he patted the other’s back. Wild grinned over at them and put a hand to his mouth. Wind blinked, “What’s wrong, Twilight?”

Time waved him off, “Just went down the wrong pipe, probably.” The youngest stared at them, but then shrugged and went back to his breakfast.

“Hey,” Warrior glanced around, “where’s Legend?” The rabbit in Wild’s hold tensed so quickly, he held it closer and glanced around to make sure there weren’t any wolves nearby that might have scared it.

Twilight wiped his mouth off with his sleeve, narrowing his eyes a little at an oblivious Wind, then looked to the knight, “He went out early this morning, said something but watching the sunrise.”

“Well the sun is well past up. He should be back by now.”

Hyrule waved a hand, “I wouldn’t be too worried. I’m sure he’ll turn up.”

Wild frown as he glanced around the group, listening to them talk as he stroked the rabbit’s pink fur and tried to ease its sudden tension, but noticed Four staring at him. He had been very quiet this whole time and barely touched his breakfast. Wild waved a hand to get his attention, causing him to blink a few times. _O-K?_ He asked.

“Oh, yeah no I’m fine, just…” Four stared at the rabbit, narrowing his eyes a little. “I think I’ve seen a rabbit like that before.” The creature in Wild’s hold turned its head to look at, then quickly turned to curl up and hide against his neck. It made the newest hero frown in confusion and continue to stroke its fur.

“Have you?” Warrior asked around the food in his mouth.

“Yeah, but I can’t place it.” Four set his bowl down and stepped around the fire to kneel beside Wild. He tilted his head to study the rabbit closer, but the creature freaked and dove down into the extra jacket Wild had put on that morning to combat the cold. He jumped and quickly put his hands on his chest to catch the creature as a few in the camp started to laugh. Four’s eyes widened as he put his hands to his mouth.

“Look what you did!” Warrior grinned, “You scared the hell out of it!”

“I’m sorry,” Four told Wild, “I didn’t mean to!” Wild gave him a little smile and shook his head.

“It’s a wild critter.” Twilight told them, waving a hand, “It’s gonna be skittish around people. Wild just has a way with them, s’all.”

Time sighed and stood, “Alright, that’s enough fun for one morning. We need to get ready to move. Someone needs to go find Legend.”

Four quickly held up his hand, “I’ll go!” He glanced once more at the lump in Wild’s jacket, then looked back up to Time, “I saw where he went.” He looked back to Wild and touched his shoulder lightly, “Hey uh… how long do you plan on keeping that rabbit?”

Wild frowned and thought for a moment, then shrugged. _Until his leg is healed?_

“Oh, really? You’re planning on taking him with us when we move?” The other nodded. “But what if he has a family? And baby rabbits running around? If you take him with us, he won’t be able to find his family again.”

Wind frowned, “Aww that’s so sad! I didn’t even think about that!”

Wild’s eyes widened, then he frowned. Clearly, he hadn’t thought of that either. _But I don’t want him to get eaten while he’s still hurt._

“I don’t think he’s going to get eaten. We haven’t seen any wolves or anything around here,” Four glanced around at the others, “have we?”

Twilight shook his head and tightened his belt around his waist, “No, I did a wide perimeter search when we got here. I didn’t see any tracks or signs.”

Warrior motioned out to the land around them, “And Wild’s wolf went looking too. He would have smelt something if there was anything there. Plus I know wolves are super territorial and if he found any sign of them, he would have been pissed.”

Twilight glared into the distance, “Yes he would’ve.”

 Wild frowned and glanced down at the ground, wrapping his hands around the rabbit buried in his jacket protectively. Four put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a smile, “I know you want to protect him and care a great deal about him, but I think he would be really sad if he never saw his family again.”

Hyrule lifted a hand and gave Wild a smile, “Um, I might be able to help, if you’re worried about his injures.” He put his hands behind him so he could push himself up and crab walk over, then settled down to sit on his ankles in front of him. He held out his hands after brushing them off, “Can I see him?”

Wild looked a little reluctant, but understood that Hyrule was pretty good with animals too and knew he wouldn’t hurt the rabbit on purpose, so he nodded. He unbuttoned his jacket a little and reached inside to scoop up the pink rabbit and carefully pull it out. It wiggled its nose at him, clearly unhappy. Wild placed it into Hyrule’s hands, who settled the creature in his lap. He studied his wounded leg for a moment, then lightly touched two fingers to it. Soon they started to glow a gold color, earning the attention of everyone in camp, especially Wild, who was watching with large eyes. Then the light faded away, Hyrule carefully undid the bandages to show that the green paste and the gashes from the thorns were gone. All that was left was fluffy pink fur.

Wind gasped, “Oh my goddess! How did you do that?!”

The brunette smiled at him and shrugged, “It was nothing special. Just a little healing magic.” The rabbit lifted its head to study its leg, moving it about to test the feeling. “Healing little creatures like these are easy. Healing myself or other people is… more difficult. But he looks good as new!” He smiled and held the rabbit up to show Wild. The rabbit did not look amused at being held up in the air like a trophy.

The newest hero took the creature back and studied its leg for himself, lightly running his fingers over it. When the rabbit didn’t even flinch, he nodded a little. It was fully healed. “See,” Four smiled, “he’s good to go! He’ll be just fine now, don’t you think?” Wild frowned a little and shifted to hold the rabbit in his arms against chest, but then smiled at Four and nodded. “Come on, we should put him back. I’ll go with you. I have to look for Legend anyways.”

The pair stood and headed back towards the forest with Wild leading the way. They found the bush where the rabbit had gotten stuck and moved to a nearby clearing to release him. Wild looked down at the creature, then up at Four, who quickly got the message and held up his hands. “Yeah, I’ll just go look for Legend now. You good?” Wild smiled at him and nodded. “Alright. Don’t stay out too long, or Time’s gonna be pissed and that’s the last thing we need.”

Wild nodded and watched him go, then held the rabbit up so he could look it in the eye. “How are you feeling?” He asked quietly now that he was alone, “Does your leg still hurt? I don’t see anything…” He turned the animal so he could look at its leg again, then met its eyes again. It wiggled its nose at him, causing him to smile. “You want to know something funny? I was only taking care of you for literally an hour or two but I’m going to be really sad to watch you go.” He shifted the rabbit to hold it against his chest, close to his neck, and started to stroke over its ears and down its back. “Please be more careful next time, ok?” The rabbit rested against his chest with his paws draped over his shoulder. It wiggled its nose a little and looked up at him as they lapsed into silence. Then it pushed itself up to press its nose against the underside of Wild’s jaw. A laugh of pure joy escaped the hero, eyes sparkling as he looked down at the rabbit. “Aww! I’m going to miss you too!” He turned his head and pressed a kiss against its cheek, just under its ear, then finally set it on the ground in front of him. Wild smiled at it, but suddenly gasped as an idea popped into his head. “Oh wait!” He pulled his Sheikah Slate off his belt and pointed it at the rabbit, snapping its picture. He smiled again, “There, so I’ll remember you. I um…” he waved the device a little, “I lost my memories a long time ago and I’m always afraid I’ll lose them again, so I take pictures of the things I want to remember. Now you’re part of that list.” The rabbit stared up at him for a long moment then lifted a paw to touch his knee. Wild chuckled and rubs its head with his thumb, “Don’t worry, it’s been a couple of years and nothing bad has happened yet, but you can never be too careful, right?” He sighed and glanced off towards their camp, “I should get going… I don’t want to keep the others waiting.” He smiled back down at the rabbit, “You be careful, ok? And say hi to Miss. Pink Bunny for me. Or Mr. Pink Bunny, whichever.” The creature’s eyes got big and tensed, looking a little mortified. Wild laughed and gave it one more scratch under the chin before he stood and left. He did look back one more time with a sad expression, then hurried back to camp.

The rabbit sat there for a long moment after, watching him disappear, then turned to look up at Four when he stepped into the clearing. He was smirking down at him with one hand on his hip, “Well look at you. How did this come about, I wonder? Oh! Could it be because you lost… this?” Four held up the Moon Pearl between his pointer and thumb. The rabbit made an angry sound at him, turning to face him. “Aww come on. Where is that cute little thing Wild was snuggling just a minute ago?” The rabbit hopped over to him and started to hit his shins with its little paws, but Four didn’t look impressed. “I’m going to give it back to you, obviously. The others will start to wonder where you are. Also… I won’t tell anyone.” The rabbit paused and looked up at him, clearly not buying it. “No really! No strings attached.” Four started to toss the pearl up and catching it in his palm again. “You made Wild really happy this morning. I was worried he wasn’t going to let you go and I’d have to come up with some excuse to keep the others from thinking you got killed or something. As funny as it would be to watch you try to explain why you turn into this cute pink bunny, Wild would be pretty embarrassed, so I’m not going to do that.” He grinned, “I really don’t care if you get embarrassed. It’d be pretty funny, actually.” Four knelt down in front of him and put the Moon Pearl in front of him, but kept it covered with his hand, “But maybe consider using your powers here for good, yeah?” He stood and took a few steps back.

The rabbit stared at him for a long moment then looked down at the pearl. It put one paw on it and in a flash of silver light, the rabbit was replaced by Legend in his Hylian form. He had his eyes closed and his hand wrapped around the pearl. When he opened them, he glared at Four and pointed at him. “You better not tell anyone.”

Four held up his hands, raising a brow at him, “I just said I wouldn’t.” Legend glared at him for a moment longer then tucked the pearl safely back into one of the pouches on his belt. “How did you lose that in the first place?”

“None of your business.”

Four pushed his lips out in thought, “You tripped and it rolled out of your bag, didn’t it?”

“Shut up!”

The shorter hero grinned and hurried after him when Legend started to storm back to camp. “That kiss you gave Wild on the jaw was pretty cute.”

The other’s face exploded with heat as his eyes widened. He whipped around to glare at him, “It wasn’t a kiss!”

“Are you sure? Because it definitely looked like a kiss.”

“It wasn’t a kiss!”

“Hm, then what was it?”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s not like I can actually _talk_ like that. What else was I supposed to do?”

“You could have… pawed at him, wiggled your nose, made some really cute rabbit sound? You know, normal stuff?”

Legend pointed at him, “I hate you. I hate you so much right now.”

“Well,” The shorter hero crossed his arms and strolled past him, raising one shoulder to his chin, “good thing for you I’ll keep your secret even if you do. Because ha! That would be embarrassing for both of you, wouldn’t it?” Legend glared daggers at him the entire time then grumbled as he followed him back to camp.

As they started make their way to the top of the hill where everyone was just about packed and ready to go, Sky noticed them and raised a hand. “Hey! Welcome back!”

Warrior smirked, “How was the sunrise, Legend? Did you see the sunset too while you were out?”

Legend glared at him, “Shut up.”

“Did you get lost, O’ Great Adventurer?”

“I said shut up!” A hand touched his arm light, causing the once rabbit now Hylian to whip around, ready to rip someone else who was going to tease him a new one, but standing just behind him was Wild, holding a bowl with potage and a spoon in it. He smiled at him and held it up. Legend gasped and took a few steps back, arms failing as he felt his face grow bright red. He put his hands over his mouth to keep from making some sort of startled, embarrassed noise. Wild stared up at him with big, confused eyes as he tilted his head. Somewhere behind him, he could hear Four snicker. Wild slowly stretched out the arm holding the bowl so he could gestured from his wrist, to his elbow, then put his thumb to his fingertips as he moved it towards his mouth, raising a brow. It took Legend longer than it should have to realize he was gesturing _breakfast?_ “I uh…” Legend stared at him, then looked at the bowl, taking it slowly. “Thanks.” He glanced back up at him.

Wild continued to stare at him funny, but then gave him a bit of a smile, holding his palm up and pulling it to his chest. _You’re welcome._ He turned and went back to gathering his things and stuffing it into his pack.

Legend watched for a moment, then turned around and dropped his eyes to the potage that was no doubt cold, but smelt really good. He glanced up, then did a double take to glare at a smirking Four. “Shut up.” He growled through gritted teeth, “You say a word and I’ll make you regret it.” The other just held up his hands and strolled off gather his own things.

“Legend, you missed it!” Wind bounced up to him with a grin as the older one started to eat. “Wild found this really cute bunny this morning!” Legend nearly spat out his food, putting a hand to his mouth as he swallowed and started to cough. Wind gave him a funny look but continued, “It hurt its leg so Wild brought it back and was gonna nurse it back to health and we were gonna bring it with us, but then we were worried that maybe it had a family here so Hyrule healed it with some magic and Wild let it go.” He pouted a little and looked at the long-haired hero, “Too bad we couldn’t keep it. It was so cute. I wish it liked me more. It seemed to only like you.” Wild smiled at him and shrugged.

Four patted the youngest hero on the back and put his other hand on his chest, “Don’t worry, I’m sure that little bunny will be with us wherever we go.” Legend glared at him over the edge of his bowl.

“You mean like in spirit?” Wind asked, looking down at him.

“Yes, exactly.”

“Aww, I like that.”

As soon as everyone was packed and Legend had finished his late breakfast, they started down the road again. Wild followed behind them but paused and looked back towards the forest with a little frown. Legend glanced up at him as he passed, then hesitated and glanced back. Wild’s eyes were scanning the wood line for an intense moment before they dropped to the ground as he sighed through his nose. _“Just keep walking. Don’t say anything. Just keep walking.”_ Legend thought to himself and took a few more steps after the others, then stopped once more. He groaned and put a and over his eyes then dragged it down, feeling like an idiot and a sap, two things he really wasn’t fond of. He turned back and stepped up beside the other, staring forward firmly before glancing up at him. Wild wasn’t looking at him, studying the ground as he gripped his sword strap instead. Legend looked forward again, pressing his lips together, then finally spat out, “He’s fine.” Wild blinked up at him in curiosity and confusion. The shorter hero looked up at him, then away quickly. “That rabbit, he’s fine. You um…” he shrugged as he felt his face warm, “took good care of him. I’m sure he’s back with his family now, or… whatever bullshit you wanna believe. No need to be all sad and shit.”

Wild tilted his head at his words, but slowly smiled as his eyes started to sparkle a little. He nodded once with a hum then turned and wrapped his arms tightly around Legend. The short boy’s eyes widened as his whole body tensed, like a frightened rabbit ready to bolt. _Fucking hell._ Wild pulled back to put his hands on his shoulders and gave him a smile that had Legend’s insides flopping around like dying fish. He gave his shoulders a squeeze, then put one hand to his mouth to tip forward in thanks, then jogged past him to catch up to the others.

Legend stood there for a moment, completely frozen, then glanced behind him after the other. He finally groaned and put his hands over his face, feeling his world turn upside down. “I hate these people…” he grumbled as he dragged his hands down his face then turned to follow them reluctantly, firmly ignoring whatever warmth was starting to grow in his chest.


End file.
